Vettel please to disprove Ferrari doubters

2016 Japanese Grand Prix

Posted on

| Written by

Sebastian Vettel said he was pleased to disprove those who said Ferrari would not be competitive at Suzuka after the team out-qualified Red Bull.

“The car’s been really good today,” Vettel told reporters after qualifying. “Third was there to grasp but I miss a little bit in Q3, had a small mistake, especially in the final stages of the lap. So I think in that regard Kimi [Raikkonen] had a better lap.”

Japanese Grand Prix qualifying in pictures
“But all in all it’s been a really positive day on a track where people said we don’t have any chance. I think we’ve proved that our car is very good. Obviously it’s been a tough season so far but I think a very positive result on a very difficult and demanding track.”

Vettel believes the team should be as strong again in the race. “I think the speed such be there tomorrow, should be close,” he said. “Obviously Mercedes seems to be a little bit further away but for sure it’s going to be a good fight. With the penalty that I get we are not that far off.”

Ferrari has introduced some aerodynamic updates recently but Vettel did not single those out as the cause of its gains. “I think we brought the balance together,” he said.

“Obviously we had a couple of bits that seem to work well this weekend so I don’t think it’s to say what is working today that didn’t work other times.”

“I think it’s been very close and this time obviously we’ve managed to put both cars ahead. Arguably I think in Malaysia it was possible, in qualifying we seemed to drift off a bit but now we are here and happy where we are.

2016 Japanese Grand Prix

    Browse all Japanese Grand Prix articles

    Author information

    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

    Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

    15 comments on “Vettel please to disprove Ferrari doubters”

    1. It’s amazing how Ferrari beat Red Bull by less than a tenth of a second in qualifying and suddenly they have silenced the critics. Well, Seb… you are still on the second row of the grid, so expect the criticism to continue

      1. Well, it is positive that they seem much closer on Saturday, even ahead of Red Bull on pace, and seem competitive again on race pace @todfod; also, Kimi is doing his job as good as can be expected. But besides pace (of development?) the big thing they need to prove this year is that they can grab a chance for a win when it presents itself.

        It is no coincidence that I expect Seb to finish ahead of Kimi behind the Red Bulls on Sunday, as so far Ferrari haven’t managed to give both drivers a good strategy yet; Kimi only has a flawless one if Seb is not there to get priority.

        1. @bosyber ” Kimi only has a flawless one if Seb is not there to get priority.”

          I don’t entirely disagree and I’m a huge Rai fanboy, but I have to admit that Kimi has spoiled his own races more than a few times, or had his races compromised before any strategy has come into play yet

          1. Very true, Kimi has had quite a few moments himself during this Ferrari stint @dr-jekyll, but over the last months he has seemed more on top of things, with fewer odd drives, just as Seb seemed to be lost a bit. Ferrari weren’t always the reason his race didn’t work out, but neither were they often a lot of help in strategic sense (and especially if Seb was there to get priority).

        2. Yeah, but let’s see if they have RBR’s luck too!! I mean, let’s not forget that last race RBR won mostly because both Mercedes cars were out of the race… and not a real race pace win. If Ferrari keeps their pace in the race too and if 1 of the Mercedes DNF or there’s some SC period… then, yeah, a win for them is probable. Otherwise, I hardly believe they could win if things go well for all front teams.

      2. Well, beating Red Bulls on a chassis track is a very good result for Ferrari. It is more than what they or anyone else expected.

      3. Still better than 15th. Where’s this competitive Fernando? Or did he not make that comment about how competitive he would be in Singapore, Malaysia and Japan. The hater in you. Ferrari outpaced the so-called favourites get over it, Ferrari’s chassis is nice.

        1. Except them to race backward tomorrow. It won’t be the first time this year. Mercedes and Red Bull have proved to be sharper strategy wise.

      4. When Red Bull are on the 2nd row my perception is many fans view it as the glass half full but with Ferrari the same result it is glass half empty. Can only put it down to the pressure of being the biggest single entity in the sports history (but by no means bigger than it). If Ferrari had been better on strategy they could have won Australia, Canada and Spain but whats ifs don’t matter ask Lewis. They should have been better this year but by no means have they been bad for that we mist look at McLaren.

      5. He has a point, when red bull outqualified them was also by few tenths and Ferrari seems stronger this weekend.

    2. Reading this article, I couldn’t help but noticing Vettel sure does think a lot. I count 8 times “I think…” in this article. He would sound a lot more self assured if he would leave them out, e.g. “I think we’ve proved that our car is very good.” vs. “We’ve proved that our car is very good.”

      1. I think (whoops, now I’ve gone and used it!)… I think that Seb’s just being media savvy. Confidence is something these top drivers have in spades, but to avoid appearing arrogant he tones it down.

      2. I think (just think, because I know I’m not the owner of the absolute truth) he talks that way because he wants to let know that it is his humble opinion. If you delete all the “I think” stuff, I THINK it could be some HAM’s interview… ;)
        However, I don´t think HAM is more self-confident than VET. In fact, I think it’s the other way round.
        I think, therefore I am…

    3. I know the supposed Arrivabene lecture isn’t on this website. I wanted to reassure everyone that that news is fabricated by SKY, at best I would say the message got lost in translation, or perhaps it’s just typical sensationalism.

      1. Agree with you, spanish media did the same with the translation, they want Fernando to be fhe champion of early contract renewals now…

    Comments are closed.